(Photo :Laura Story)

Remember those 3D stereogram images that used to be very popular in the 90s?  On a cursory glance they are a messy array of colors splashed across a cardboard.  But if you relax your eyes, concentrate on a spot on the picture, you will soon find a 3D image appearing.  Many a times this is what our lives are like.  A life unexamined looks like a serendipity of vignettes thrown together without much forethought and purpose.  But if we allow our eyes to look with faith and through God's promises, slowly a bigger story emerges.  Our life stories are part of a bigger story of God of redemption.  We are more than just a transient fermata.  Rather by His mercy, each of us has a role to play to narrate God's story of how He has come to save us through Jesus Christ.  And each of us plays a supportive role in order to make Jesus Christ the real star of the story shine in all His glory and honor.  This is the theme of Laura Story's brand new album "God of Every Story."  Through her own stories and the stories of Scripture, Story fashions for us some interpretative lenses on how we can make sense of our narratives in the light of God's meta-narrative.

"God of Every Story" is Story's third release following two very successful releases each of which has at least one signature career-defining song.  Her debut "Great God Who Saves" gave us her self-penned "Indescribable" which has become a worship staple across the globe under hers and Chris Tomlin's hands.  Then her sophomore record "Blessings" produced the title track which has struck the chords of numerous hearts that many have made this song a personal anthem.  Thus, it was of no surprise when the single "Blessings" was locked into iTunes Christian song chart at number 1 for 28 consecutive weeks.  Considering such a mammoth history of memorable hit songs, the stakes for a follow-up are high.  Nevertheless, "God of Every Story" doesn't disappoint.   Spotting all the symptoms of a classic-to-be is the lead single "I Can Just Be Me."  Featuring a popish Jim Brickman-esque piano, "I Can Just Be Me" is one of those tugged at your heart ballads that Story is patented for.  "I Can Just Be Me" hits the nail on its head:  the reason why we have often despaired in our chapters of hardships is because we try to be God.   Rather than allowing God to be our Master Story teller we try to take His place.  With her effable sensitivity, Story urges us in this song to just be ourselves rather than try to play God in the unfolding of God's story.

"Keeper of the Stars," not the Tracy Byrd song of the same titular but a Story original, deals with the issue of suffering.  Taking a lesson from how God dealt with Job when God silenced Job via a series of questions that He would made creation knows what He is doing.  "Keeper of the Stars" takes on a similar trajectory where Story warmly assures us that the Keeper of the stars knows what He is doing in the midst of our pains.  Story is at her most tender best when she croons a ballad like "You Gave Your Life."  Here Story pauses to give eloquence to the relentless love of God stringed together with gems of pearl from Scripture especially Eph. 3:18.  Gentle, soothing and with a song that speaks to the heart is stark piano ballad "He Will Never Let Go."  In an album about stories, it is prim and proper for Story to return to the stories of Jesus as contained in the Synoptic Gospels.  "Who But Jesus" highlights how Jesus would often choose the weak, the despised and the outcasts to express His grace.  In describing Christ, the line "with scandalous compassion He makes the wretch his chosen bride" is especially liberating.   

Though piano ballads are Story's forte, she does indulge us with some worship burners such as "There's a Kingdom."  Reminiscing a little of Keith and Kristyn Getty's "O Church Arise," "There is a Kingdom" reminds us that God's story is much greater than our individualistic lives, it involves a marching Kingdom ready to conquer the world.  While "O Love of God" starts off with some jazzy piano riffs before Story launches into an explosive Hillsong-like ode of worship.  "God of Every Story" is storied with lots of wizened Scriptural wisdom and truth.  And it avails to us lots